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POSCO DX / Steel Mill Material Logistics Management Establishment of fulfillment system at POSCO PF Center

Establishment of a fulfillment system at POSCO PF Center for steel mill material logistics management

Introducing smart logistics systems such as autostore, automated warehouse, AGV, and ACS

2024/05

POSCO DX has successfully built the POSCO PF Center logistics system, the first fulfillment center in the domestic manufacturing sector that converges 'IT (information technology) + OT (automation technology) + robotics' in cooperation with POSCO Gwangyang Steel Works.

POSCO introduced the concept of fulfillment for the first time in the manufacturing industry to procure materials for steel mills. The Gwangyang Works previously distributed the materials needed for facility maintenance to more than 300 material warehouses. In order to improve the inefficiency and neglect of management caused by storing the same materials individually in each warehouse, the company established a fulfillment center that provides total services from ordering materials to inventory management and prompt delivery.

The POSCO PF Center, which was completed by POSCO Gwangyang Works in April in the Gwangyang National Industrial Complex, has a total area of 50,000㎡ and has the capacity to store materials of various sizes, from large to medium and small, through more than 34,000 cells.

POSCO DX, which has built a logistics system for all fields except civil engineering and construction with POSCO's local business, has built a WMS that predicts material demand based on data and manages inventory to improve the efficiency of material storage and delivery management. POSCO DX improved the efficiency of material storage by introducing large three-dimensional racks that automatically store materials in cells via stacker cranes, and autostores, cube-shaped warehouses where robots automatically store and pick materials. In the 200-meter section between the picking zone and the shipping zone, AGVs are deployed to transport materials unmanned, and the company has developed its own AGV Control System (ACS) to control multiple AGVs, improving the efficiency of transfer robot operations.

User convenience was also improved. Users can check images and locations of materials in the 3D metaverse environment without visiting the POSCO PF Center and place orders, and they can also check the delivery status of materials in real time.

In addition, POSCO DX installed a 1.4MW solar power generation facility on the roof of the PF Center, which is enough electricity to power more than 500 households for a year, to enable POSCO PF Center to operate as an eco-friendly, low-carbon logistics center.

Through this project, POSCO DX has established a standard model for WMS and ACS solutions applicable to fulfillment centers. As the company has secured design and construction capabilities and specialized technologies for building fulfillment centers, it plans to more actively target the domestic logistics automation market.

“Through this project, we have secured a representative reference that converges major DX technologies from IT system construction to facility automation and robot engineering,” said an official from POSCO DX. ”We plan to lead the construction of intelligent factories through the convergence of technologies such as industrial AI, digital twins, and robots.”